Mailing envelope with padding

ABSTRACT

A mailing envelope having two outer walls which form an outer envelope, are arranged essentially parallel to one another, enclose an interior space for accommodating an article and, on their inner side facing, the interior space, each have padding formed by a profiled inner all, is to be designed for a particularly small space requirement when stored or kept in the unfilled state. For this purpose, according to the invention, the profiles of the inner walls are matched to one another in such a way that they engage in one another when the interior is unfilled.

The invention relates to a mailing or packaging bag for an item to beshipped, in particular also referred to as an envelope, having two outerwalls which form an outer shell, are arranged essentially parallel toone another, enclose an interior space for accommodating an item, andare each provided with padding on their inner side facing the interiorspace.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

Padded mailing or packing envelopes, also referred to as “linedenvelopes”, are used to mail or transport items such as books, plasticproducts, or other items that may be damaged or injured if handledcarelessly and not safely.

Overall, numerous types of padded envelopes or packaging bags are known,the padding usually being formed by air pockets formed from plasticlayers, from a thermoplastic foam or the like. The aforementioned airpockets in particular provide comparatively good cushioning and thus aprotective effect, by means of which the effect of external forces onthe product in the envelope can be absorbed or eliminated. On the otherhand, however, this type of construction also means that such paddingrequires a comparatively large amount of space, precisely because of thehigh proportion of air pockets. Particularly in the case of largequantities, the voluminous design can therefore result in an undesirablyhigh space requirement for storage, intermediate storage or transport ofsuch lined envelopes or padded shipping bags.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a shipping orpackaging envelope of the type mentioned above which, on the one hand,ensures a high and reliable protective effect for the product in theenvelope comparable with existing concepts, but which, on the otherhand, can be stored and transported in a particularly space-savingmanner.

With regard to the envelope, this object is achieved in accordance withthe invention in that the outer walls forming the outer envelope eachhave, on their inner side facing the interior, padding formed by aprofiled inner wall, the profiles of the inner walls being matched toone another in such a way that they engage with one another when theinterior is unfilled.

Advantageous embodiments of the invention are the subject of thesubclaims.

The invention is based on the consideration that in principle, analogousto many already known padded envelopes, a good protective effect for theproduct contained in the envelope can be ensured by providing thepadding by means of a profiled inner wall attached to the inside of theouter walls in each case. The profiling, i.e., suitable contouring ofthe surface, can form alternating surface portions in contact with theouter wall and inwardly bulging or shaped surface portions which, interms of their protective action, correspond to the above-mentioned airpockets or cavities. However, such contouring already requires a certainthickness of the ensemble of outer and associated inner wall due to theprofile depth of the inner wall, and this thickness is also unavoidablefor reasons of the protective effect for the product. However, in orderto keep the overall thickness as low as possible when the envelope orshipping bag is empty and thus also to minimize the space required,especially when storing and transporting a large number of such unfilledenvelopes, the overall system should be designed so that the thicknessesof the two ensembles, each comprising an outer and an inner wall, do notadd up. This is achieved in that the profiles of the inner walls aresuitably matched and adapted to each other so that, when the envelope isunfilled, the profiles interact and engage with each other in the mannerof a patrix-matrix combination.

The profiling could be realized by projections arranged on a basesurface, for example pyramid-shaped or hemispherical protrusions. Incontrast, however, a substantially wave-shaped profiling is regarded asparticularly advantageous and independently inventive, so that the innerwalls are each designed in the manner of a corrugated layer.Advantageously, these are positioned relative to one another andconnected to the outer walls in such a way that the respectivecorrugated or profiled crest of the first inner wall comes to lie in acorrugated or profiled valley of the second inner wall in the unfilledstate.

Advantageously, the inner walls forming the respective cushioning due totheir profiling are designed in such a way that they form a number ofcavities or air chambers on their own and/or in conjunction with therespectively assigned outer wall. Due to their shape-relateddeformability and elasticity, these can ensure a particularly good andreliable protective effect for the inserted product. In a furtheradvantageous embodiment, the shape-related cavities are filled with adamping material.

A particularly durable, low-cost, easy-to-implement and, moreover,particularly environmentally friendly padding for packaging or shippingbags is available in a very particularly advantageous embodiment whichis regarded as independently inventive, in that the inner walls formingthe padding are based on a cellulose material, particularly preferablypaper or cardboard. This embodiment is particularly advantageous overknown envelope concepts in which the padding was formed by air pocketsformed from plastic layers or from a thermoplastic foam. Such airpockets have the particular disadvantage that damage to the plasticlayers causes the air to escape, resulting in a reduction or evencomplete elimination of the cushioning effect. The use and applicationof thermoplastic foam, on the other hand, is very complex andcost-intensive in the manufacturing process.

In contrast, a particularly simple and cost-effective production ofpadded shipping or packaging envelopes with recourse to the paper orcardboard commonly used for the outer walls can be achieved if the useof additional, foreign materials is deliberately dispensed with.Particularly with regard to environmental aspects, especially disposalissues, and also with regard to the materials commonly used for theenvelopes, namely paper or cardboard, the padding is thus also formedfrom these materials in this embodiment. By avoiding foreign materials,a particularly simple and fast connection, for example bonding, of thepadding to the envelope can also be achieved using already existingmachine components.

In order to cushion impact forces on the goods to be packaged, i.e., toprovide padding, the paper or cardboard elements which are to form thepadding are specifically arranged, profiled or formed in such a way thatair chambers or cavities are formed. In an advantageous embodiment, thiscan be achieved by using corrugated paper or a corrugated cardboard aspadding. In order to enable the desired interaction of the profiles ofthe inner walls in the manner of a matrix-patrix arrangement in aparticularly simple manner, particularly with this choice of material,in which the inner walls forming the padding are made of corrugatedpaper or corrugated cardboard, the inner walls are therebyadvantageously aligned with one another with a corrugation directionrunning essentially parallel to one another in such a way that in eachcase a corrugation crest of a first inner wall overlaps with acorrugation trough of the second inner wall. In other words, thecorrugated layers forming the inner walls, preferably made of corrugatedpaper or corrugated cardboard, are inserted in such a way that therespective corrugation or profile crest on the format panel(corresponding to the front side of the envelope) comes to lie in acorrugation or profile valley on the bottom flap (corresponding to therear side of the envelope).

This design can be achieved in a particularly simple and reliable mannerin that, in a particularly advantageous embodiment, the padding for bothinner walls is produced from a single, common corrugated sheet.Advantageously, this sheet is first simply folded during production ofthe padding, after any necessary trimming and adjustment to the desiredtarget size, and then corrugated or generally provided with the intendedprofiling in this folded state. This automatically produces the desiredmatrix-patrix design, and the folded and profiled sheet forming bothinner walls can be suitably inserted into the envelope forming the outerwalls.

In a further advantageous embodiment, the inner walls forming thepadding are aligned with their corrugation direction substantiallylongitudinally or parallel to the filling direction of the mailing bagor envelope. In the case of an envelope which is provided with a closureflap on one of its longitudinal sides, the longitudinal directions ofthe crests and troughs of the corrugations of the profiling thus extendsubstantially perpendicularly to the direction in which the closure flapextends.

For comprehensive protection of the goods also in the direction of theclosure flap, the padding in a further advantageous embodiment alsoextends to at least partial areas of the closure flap.

In one embodiment of the invention, the inner walls forming the paddingcan be inserted or inserted into the actual envelope forming the outerwalls without further fastening. However, a particularly mechanicallystable design of the mailing bag or envelope can be achieved in that, inan advantageous embodiment, the inner walls forming the padding arebonded to the outer wall associated therewith at their points of contacttherewith. In the case of an embodiment of the inner walls in corrugatedform, i.e., preferably as corrugated paper or as corrugated cardboard,these act mechanically like stiffening ribs which promote acorresponding mechanical strength of the outer walls. By means ofcomplete or preferably also only partial and selective bonding at thecontact points, this stiffening effect can be influenced and adjustedaccording to predeterminable criteria; for example, in the case of onlypartial bonding of the corrugated inner walls to the respectivelyassociated outer wall, a certain flexibility can be permitted andspecifically adjusted as required. In particular, the damping andstiffness/strength properties of the envelope as a whole can beinfluenced by suitable alignment and design of the 3D profiles incombination with full-surface or partial gluing to the outer shell.

The advantages achieved with the invention consist in particular in thefact that the overall thickness of the still empty envelope can be keptparticularly low by the coordinated profiling of the inner walls, whichinterlock when the envelope is empty. In particular, the individualthicknesses of the ensembles of inner and outer walls, which areessentially determined by the profile depth of the inner walls, do notadd up when the envelope is empty, so that the space required forstorage can, be kept particularly low, especially when a large number ofsuch envelopes are stocked. The interlocking of the profiled innerlayers thus results in a transport or storage volume that is small forthe transport or storage of the padded bag. As a result, a flat,space-saving envelope is achieved in the unfilled state, and it is onlywhen filled with a filling that the desired cushioning effect isproduced on both sides. A farther advantage of the design according tothe invention is that, in the case of an envelope filled with atransport item or product, in which the product, viewed in the area ofthe envelope, is arranged only in its central region, the edge regionsare kept comparatively thin compared with the central region as a resultof the profiles being matched to one another; the filled envelope thustapers from the central region, in which the product is located, towardsthe edge. This creates a wedge or clamping effect towards the edges,which additionally fixes the product in the center area and providesadditional, special protection against impact loads in the edge area.

In addition, the use of padding made of paper or cardboard makes itparticularly easy to integrate this padding into the manufacturingprocess of the packaging bags, because there is no need to use foreignmaterials and therefore no special processing features. Furthermore, theuse of air chambers or cavities formed or enclosed by paper or cardboardis characterized by comparable stability and durability compared to thepreviously known variants made of plastic films, with significantlyimproved environmental friendliness.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

An embodiment of the invention is explained in more detail withreference to a drawing. Therein show:

FIG. 1 a mailing bag with a padding of corrugated paper,

FIG. 2 a cross-section of the shipping bag according to FIG. 1 whenfilled with a product, and

FIG. 3 a cross-section of the shipping bag shown in FIG. 1 in theunfilled state.

Identical parts are marked with the same reference numerals in allfigures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The packaging or shipping envelope 1 shown in FIG. 1 is in the nature ofa lined or padded bag or envelope. In the manner of a folded envelope,it comprises an outer envelope 2 formed by two continuous outer walls 4,6 arranged substantially parallel to each other and formed by a materialsuitable for shipping, for example of plastic fiber, of transparent ortranslucent film or of papyrolin, but preferably and in the embodimentexample of paper or cardboard. The outer envelope 2 formed by the outerwalls 4, 6 encloses an inner space 8 for receiving a product or good 10which is to be packed or shipped with the mailing envelope 1. The good10 can thereby be guided into the interior space 8 via a closableopening 12 in the envelope. As a closure for this opening 12, a firstouter wall 6 of the envelope is extended to form a closure flap 14. Thisclosure flap 14 can be folded over via a folding edge 16 in such a waythat the opening 12 is closed. For a secure closure, a rubber coating ora pressure-sensitive adhesive strip 18 is arranged on the inner side ofthe closure flap 14, which is bonded to the outer side of the secondouter wall 4 in the closed state.

In addition, of course, a further pressure-sensitive adhesive stripand/or a tear strip or perforation could also be provided in the regionof the closure flap. Not shown in the figures, but certainly provided ifnecessary, is a viewing window made of glassine or a transparent plasticin one of the outer walls 4, 6 of the envelope.

To protect the goods, the mailing envelope 1 comprises a padding 20which is attached to the inside of the outer walls 4, 6. The padding 20is formed by two profiled inner walls 22, 24, each of which is assignedto one of the outer walls 4, 6 and is arranged on their inner sidefacing the interior 8. When the envelope is filled, as shown incross-section in FIG. 2, the goods 10 are thus completely surrounded bythe padding 20. However, if the outer cover 2 of the envelope has aviewing window, the padding 20 can also be recessed in this area so asnot to impair the function of the viewing window.

The effect of the cushioning 20, i.e., the protection of the goods 10transported in the envelope against impacts or damage, is achieved byprofiling the inner walls 22, 24. For this purpose, the inner walls 22,24 have, for example by embossing, compression or another type ofshaping, an applied three-dimensional profile in which cavities orintermediate spaces 26 are formed in the spatial shape by materialfolding or other contouring, possibly in conjunction with therespectively associated outer wall 4, 6. This profiling could, theexample, comprise mouldings, pyramid-like embossings, grooves,hemispherical contours or the like. In the embodiment example, theprofiling is achieved in that the inner walls 22, 24 are made ofcorrugated paper or corrugated board. Thus, in the embodiment example,the profiling of the inner walls 22, 24 provided for forming the padding20 is in the form of a corrugated shape.

As can be clearly seen in the cross-sectional view shown in FIG. 2, theinterior 8 of the envelope filled with the product 10 is thus surroundedby the outer envelope 2, which in turn is formed on both sides of theproduct 10 by a respective ensemble of outer wall 4, 6 and corrugatedprofiled inner wall 22, 24. The cross-section in the illustrationaccording to FIG. 2 is laid in such a way that the profiling is showntransversely to the longitudinal direction of the corrugated, structure;in this view, the corrugated contour of the profiling of the inner walls22, 24 is thus clearly visible. The inner walls 22, 24 forming thepadding 20 are oriented with their corrugated direction substantiallytransverse to the longitudinal direction of the shipping bag 1 and thuslongitudinally or parallel to the filling direction of the envelope; theviewing direction shown in FIG. 2 thus corresponds to the view throughthe closure flap 14 into the interior 8. The wall thickness d of theouter envelope 2 is thereby essentially given by the profile depth t ofthe profiling of the respective inner wall 22, 24. The product or good10 is arranged in the central region of the envelope, as viewed in thesurface thereof; the filled envelope thus tapers from the centralregion, in which the product or good 10 is located, towards the edge 28.This results in a wedging or clamping effect towards the edges 28, whichfixes the good 10 in the central region to a certain extent and, inaddition to the actual padding 20, provides a certain degree ofprotection against impact loading in the edge region.

The envelope or the shipping bag 1 is specifically designed for aparticularly small space requirement in the unfilled state, i.e., duringstocking, intermediate storage or transport. For this purpose, as can beseen particularly clearly from the enlarged sectional cross-sectionalview in the unfilled state according to FIG. 3, the profiles of theinner walls 22, 24 are matched to one another in such a way that theyinterlock when the interior 8 is unfilled. In the embodiment shown inthe embodiment example, in which the inner walls 22, 24 forming thepadding 20 are made of corrugated paper or corrugated cardboard, theinner walls 22, 24 are aligned with respect to one another with thedirection of corrugation running essentially parallel to one another insuch a way that in each case a corrugation crest 30 of the first innerwall 22 overlaps with a corrugation trough 32 of the second inner wall24 and vice versa. In the present context, “wave trough” is understoodto mean, with reference to the respectively associated outer wall 4 or6, the lower extreme region of the wave shape with which the respectiveinner wall 22, 24 is in contact with the associated outer wall 4 or 6 inthe manner of a longitudinal rib. The “wave crest” accordinglydesignates the upper extreme region of the wave contour.

The corrugated layers of corrugated paper or corrugated board formingthe inner walls 22, 24 are thus inserted in such a way that therespective corrugated or profiled crest 30 on the format panel(corresponding to the front of the envelope) comes to lie in acorrugated or profiled valley 32 on the bottom flap (corresponding tothe rear of the envelope). As can be clearly seen from the illustrationin FIG. 3, this interaction of the profiles of the inner walls 22, 24 inthe manner of a matrix-patrix arrangement ensures that the overallthickness D of the unfilled envelope is approximately equal to orslightly more than the single (!) profile depth t of an ensemble ofinner and outer wall and is not approximately twice the wall thickness dof the outer envelope 2.

In the region of their corrugation troughs 32, i.e., the lowerlongitudinal line of the corrugation contour, the inner walls 22, 24 areglued or bonded to the respective associated outer wall 4 or 6 in thecontact region. In the embodiment example, this bonding is onlypartially and selectively executed at the contact points as viewed inthe longitudinal direction; this ensures that the composite of innerwall 22, 24 with the respectively associated outer wall 4, 6 has acertain predetermined flexibility.

List of Reference Signs

-   1 Mailing envelope-   2 Outer shell-   4, 6 Exterior wall-   8 Interior-   10 Good, product-   12 Opening-   14 Closing tab-   16 Folding edge-   18 Adhesive tape-   20 Upholstery-   22,24 Interior wall-   26 Cavity-   28 Edge-   30 Wave comb-   32 Wave trough-   d Wall thickness-   t Profile depth-   D total thickness

1. A mailing envelope having two outer walls which form an outerenvelope, are arranged essentially parallel to one another, enclose aninner space for accommodating, an article and, on their inner sidefacing the inner space, each have padding formed by a profiled innerwall, the profiles of the inner walls being matched to one another insuch a way that they engage in one another when the inner space isunfilled.
 2. The mailing envelope of claim 1, whose inner walls formingthe respective padding are designed in such a way that they form anumber of cavities alone and/or in conjunction with a respectivelyassociated outer wall of the two outer walls.
 3. The mailing envelope ofclaim 2, wherein the cavities are filled with a cushioning material. 4.The mailing envelope according to claim 1, whose inner walls forming thepadding are based on a cellulose material, preferably paper orcardboard.
 5. The mailing envelope according to claim 1, whose innerwalls forming the padding are made of corrugated paper or corrugatedcardboard and are aligned with one another with a direction ofcorrugation running essentially parallel to one another in such a waythat in each case a corrugation crest of a first inner wall overlapswith a corrugation trough of a second inner wall.
 6. The mailingenvelope according to claim 5, whose inner walls forming the padding areoriented with their corrugation direction substantially transverse to alongitudinal direction of the mailing envelope.
 7. The mailing envelopeaccording to claim 1, whose inner walls forming the padding are eachbonded to an outer wall associated therewith at their points of contacttherewith.
 8. The mailing envelope according to claim 7, in whichbonding of the inner walls to the outer wall associated with each ofthem is provided only for a partial area of the points of contact.